Method of casting solid ingots of steel



NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. B. URICK, OF NEWVARK, NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OF CASTING SOLID INGOTS OF STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,973, dated. December 5, 1893.

Application filed December 5, 1892. $erial No. 454,038. (No specimens.)

To coZZ ru/tom it may concern;

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM P. B. URIoK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Casting Solid Ingots of Steel, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in methods of casting ingots of steel, and its obect is to provide a method whereby the casting of solid steel ingots of a high grade may be successfully, quickly and conveniently carried on.

It is well known that very great loss constantly ensues in the art to which the inventlon pertains by reason of the upper end of the steel ingots becoming hollow or piped in the mold while the metal is inprocess of forming and cooling, and that great laborand expense have been incurred in attempts which proved ineffectual to devise means and methods whereby to avoid the piping of the ingot and secure the casting of steel ingots of high grade which should be solid throughout. Among the efforts which have heretofore been made to insure the casting of solid ingots have been those which involved molds of special construction and the use of hydraulic compressors. In accordance with my invention I am able to secure the casting of solid ingots of steel of high grade without the use of ex pensive appliances and without varying the construction of the ordinary molds alreadyin extensive use. The formation of the hollow 1n the upper end of the ingot is caused by the gas 111 the metal evolved during the cooling process being imprisoned by the hardened shell which forms on the head of the mass of metal before the main body thereof cools. The gas being thus prevented from escaping forms the cavity or pipe in the upper end of the ingot.

In carrying my invention into effect I etfectually secure the escape of the gas from the metal and the casting of ingots which will be perfectly solid throughout, and to this end after the molten metal has been poured into the mold and allowed to remain a certain length of time, I thrust a rod or bar a definite distance downward into the upper end of the interval being permitted to elapse after the withdrawal of the rod or bar, I pour into the said cavity enough of the molten steel to fill the same and leave the ingot perfectly solid. I do not thrust the rod or bar into the molten metal as soon as it reaches the mold, because the metal would be in so fluid a condition at that time that no cavity would remain after the withdrawal of the rod or bar and hence the escape of all the gas would not be accomplished. The exact moment at which the rod or bar should be thrust into the molten metal will be determined by the heat of the metal, and care should be taken that this step of the operation be performed at the time the metal is in the consistency which will enable it to barely maintain the cavity formed by the rod or bar. The cavity formed by the rod or bar permits the free escape of the gas, this requiring but a few moments, and upon the escape of the gas-I- till the cavity with molten steel and allow the whole to cool and harden. This molten steel poured into the cavity will become a homogeneous part of the ingot, since the main body of metal should not be permitted to stand until the walls of the cavity have so hardened as not to unite with the additional molten steel.

The steps of the method sought to be protected hereby are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section of a mold containing the molten metal, and showing the rod or bar thrust into the metal to form a cavity therein. Fig. 2 is a like view of same showing the cavity formed by the withdrawal of the rod or bar, and Fig. 3 is a like view of same, showing the ingot after the cavity has been filled and the metal allowed to cool and harden.

In the drawings A designates the mold, B the metal therein, and C the rod or bar by which the cavity D is formed.

By means of my invention I insure the formation of solid ingots by effecting the removal of the gas evolved from the metal, and this is accomplished in a simple and inexpensive manner.

too

1 do not confine the invention to any special appliances for forming the cavity in the upper end of the molten mass, nor to any special the metal and then withdrawing the same to form a cavity and permit the gas to escape, and (third) filling said cavity with an additional quantity of the molten steel and allowing the whole to cool and harden, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 3d day of December, A. D. 1892.

WILLIAM P. B. URICK.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. GILL, E1). D. MILLER. 

